Eastern Cape Transport MEC, Weziwe Tikana has condemned the torching of a bus at Ngcobo in the former Transkei.
The incident took place in the early hours of Friday at Gubenxa Location, where the vehicle was kept overnight.
She said the incident seeked to regress the good work that had been done by provincial government though the AB 350 bus project to provide rural communities with safe, reliable, efficient and affordable public transport.
Tikana said the SA Police Service was working around the clock to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested.
The torched bus was one of 10 new buses that she handed over in October last year to mark the launch of the AB350 Phase 3 bus rollout project.
The current phase includes the rollout of 55 new buses over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework period.
Last month, the Department approved the business plan for the rolling out a further 15 buses, which would bring the total number of buses implemented under Phase 3 of the project to 25.
The new buses will be distributed to areas such as Alfred Nzo, Amathole, OR Tambo and Joe Gqabi.
